ORGANIC BATTERY

Abstract:

Are you vexed with these power cuts? Here

is easy solution. It is organic battery. We now

present a paper how to produce electricity

by using organic battery in your house
itself from organic materials like leaves,
fruits, waste water. This can be done by
recapitulating simple mechanism called
electrolysis. Based on this idea, the world’s
first organic battery was invented. The
battery can use any liquid even urine to
power up. Within 10 seconds of being
doused with liquid, the battery starts
providing power.
This process doesn’t leave us any toxic
substances. In fact, it is biodegradable,
eco-friendly and cheap. Different types of
organic batteries, their working and their
advantages to conventional batteries are
discussed in this paper.
Fig.1: Organic battery using waste water.
 III. What is an organic battery?
I. History:

An organic battery uses organic materials instead of

Electricity is the movement of tiny negatively-
charged particles called electrons. Direct current is
produced when electrons are pushed in one general
direction. A battery is an example of a direct current.
Electricity has a wide range of uses, including turning
motors and powering lights.
The history of the development of
electrochemical cells is crucial to the scientific study
and industrial applications of electricity. Prior to the
rise of electrical grids around the end of the 19th
century, electro chemical cells were the main source
of electricity. Successive improvements in battery
technology permitted the rise of major electrical
advances, from early scientific study to the rise of
telegraphs and portable electronics.
In 1749, Benjamin Franklin first used the term
"battery" to describe a set of linked capacitors he
used for his experiments with electricity. These
capacitors were panels of glass coated with metal on
each surface. These capacitors were charged with a
static generator and discharged by touching metal to
their electrode. Linking them together in a "battery"
gave a stronger discharge
bulk metals such as lithium to form a battery.
Formosa University developed an organic battery
which uses materials such as leave from the banyan
tree and even roadside weeds of chlorophyll extracted
into the organic electrolyte. Even waste water can be
used.
The organic battery may give up to 1.5 to
3V, current up to 150mA or more. With this we can
listen to two days of continuous mp3, 4-cell battery
LED lights can be lit to maintain more than 9 days.
This organic battery doesn’t contain any
toxic materials that may cause harm to environment.
Whereas if one metal battery is buried on the earth,
one square meter of soil will lose its value. The
metals like lithium and lead present in these metal
batteries may even penetrate into the ground water
and causes great harm. So, these expired metallic
batteries causes’ great harm to the environment.
This invention won the 2008 Taipei International
Invention Competition Gold Medal.

II. Reason for choosing organic battery:

Now- a -days battery became a part of our life

but the main disadvantage of these metallic batteries
is that after their life time their disposal is difficult. If
these are buried in earth the acids in them may cause
harm to the environment.
In order to overcome these problems man
developed rechargeable batteries. But these are Fig.2 organic battery using potato.
expensive. This made the man to step towards
Organic Batteries as these are eco-friendly and are of
low cost.
 IV. What makes an organic battery?

The organic battery mainly consists of

electrodes (cathode and anode) and electrolyte.

Electrolyte:

An electrolyte is a melted or dissolved

compound that has broken apart into ions by applying
an electric field across it. This causes the anions and
cations to move in opposite directions, thereby
conducting electrical current while gradually
separating the ions.

Electrode:

An electrode is a conductor through which

an electric current enters or leaves a substance. These
electrodes are dipped in the electrolyte.

In organic battery the electrolyte and

electrodes used are made of organic materials which
are eco-friendly and bio-degradable.

V. Types of organic batteries:

Here the electrolyte used is that matters. So,

based on the electrolyte, types of organic batteries
are classified as.

• Waste water Battery

• Fruit Battery
• Paper Battery

A. Waste water battery:

In the waste water battery, the electrolyte

used is wastewater and the electrodes used are
zinc and copper. A small bulb is connected to these
electrodes.

Fill the container with waste water and

place the electrodes in the water. Be care full not to
touch the electrodes to each other. We can observe
the flow of current as the bulb glows.
 Creating a battery from a lemon is a
common project in many science text books. Lemon
battery consists of two different metals suspended in
electrolyte. Zinc and copper works well as the

Fig.3 figure shows waste water battery.

For the
waste water
battery pH test is
done for the
electrolyte and
the electrodes are
chosen according
to requirement.

Conductivity of electrolyte should be high.

Turbidity of electrolyte should be low.

B. Fruit battery (lemon):

Fig.4 shows a lemon battery.

electrodes and citric acid content of lemon acts as "simple voltaic cells" invented by Alessandro Volta.
electrolyte.
.

When these electrodes are inserted into the

Batteries like this may not be able to run a
motor or energize bulb. It may possible to produce a
dim glow from an LED. This lemon battery delivers a
voltage of 0.906V. Unfortunately this is not enough to
light a bulb.
lemon the chemical reaction starts. At the anode,
metallic zinc is oxidized, that means it loses two
electrons and forms an ion. This Zn2+ ion enters the
electrolyte solution.

Zn → Zn2+ + 2 e-
To solve this problem we can connect more
lemon batteries in series as shown in Fig So that
voltage from each cell adds up, to produce high
voltage.

Fig.5 shows two lemons connected in series.

In a lemon battery, both oxidation and

reduction occur. This battery is similar to the original
 At the copper cathode, hydrogen ions are
reduced that means gains two electrons to form
molecular hydrogen.
2H++ 2e- → H2.

The acid in the lemon reacts differently with

each of the two electrodes. One of the electrodes
contains positive electric charges, while the other
contains negative electric charges. These charges
create current, which will flow if the battery circuit is
complete.

C. Paper battery:

A paper battery is a flexible, ultra-thin

energy storage and production device formed by
combining carbon nanotubes with a conventional
sheet of cellulose-based paper.

A paper battery acts as both high-energy

battery and super capacitor, combining two
components that are separate in traditional
electronics.

Fig.5 shows a paper battery.

 This combination allows the battery to
provide both long-term, steady power production and
bursts of energy.
Non toxic, flexible paper batteries have the
potential to power the next generation of electronics,
medical devices and hybrid vehicles, allowing for
radical new design and medical technology

Paper batteries may be folded, cut or

otherwise shaped for different applications without
any lose of integrity or efficiency. Cutting one in
half, its energy production becomes half. Stacking
them multiplies power output. Early prototypes of the
device are able to produce 2.5 volts.

Fig.6 shows a paper battery.

The devices are formed by combining 90

percent of cellulose with an infusion of aligned
carbon nanotubes of 10 percent that are each
approximately one millionth of a centimeter thick.

The carbon imparts black colour to the paper

battery. These tiny filaments acts like the electrodes
found in a traditional battery, conducting electricity
when the paper comes into contact with an ionic
liquids contain no water. This means that there is
nothing to freeze or evaporate in extreme
environmental conditions.

As a result, paper batteries can function

between -75 and 150 degree Celsius.
 VI. Working of organic battery?

In order to understand the working of an

organic battery let us connect a small bulb across
the electrodes with the help of wires. Organic
battery working is similar to voltaic cell. Pure Water
does not act as electrolyte. When you insert the
metal electrodes in the pure water, there is no
observable reaction. No gas bubbles appear, and the
bulb does not light. Fig.6 shows the movement of cations and anions.
Let us consider the waste water, this
contains salts which acts as electrolyte. So in waste
water the chemical reaction occurs. In this reaction
cations and anions are formed. Cations move towards
cathode and anions move towards anode.
This causes electron to be pushed through
the wires, flowing in one direction from one electrode
to other. This creates a direct current which lights up
the bulb when the electrons pass through it.

VII. What makes organic battery so special?
9 Organic batteries are eco-friendly. They
don’t contain any toxic materials as that
in other conventional batteries.
9 These are ease to handle as they are small
in size and lighter in weight.
9 These are safer than other batteries.
9 These are cheaper to produce electricity
than current lithium batteries.
9 The substances formed in this battery are
bio-degradable and they don’t cause any
harm to environment.
9 The flexible shape of the paper battery will
allow them to be used in irregular shaped
electronics.
A. Drawbacks:
8 Power generated by organic batteries is very
less.
VIII. Applications:
Non toxic, flexible paper batteries have their
applications in the fields of
• Electronics
• Medical sciences to
prepare pacemaker
• Automobiles etc.,
IX. Conclusion:
Organic batteries are an alternative
to the metal reaction battery technologies. Thus,
without depending on conventional sources of power
we can power simple appliances which are widely
used like bulb. By using this idea a battery which can
store more energy can be developed. This reduces our
electrical consumption and saves the EARTH. Just
like organic foods are important to keep us healthy,
organic batteries are important to make our Earth
healthy.
After one look at this planet any visitor from
outer space would say 'I want to see the manager.'
-William S. Burroughs.
Let’s give him a chance only for appreciation.
X. References :
™ Wikipedia about organic battery.
™ Wikipedia about history of battery
™ www.cleantech.com
™ www.experment-resorce.com
™ www.physicform.com
™ www.science20.com
™ www.physorg.com
™ www.google.com